Automated colorimetric determination of nanomolar urea in seawater by gas-segmented continuous flow analysis using a liquid waveguide capillary cell

Abstract

A sensitive automated colorimetric method for the determination of nanomolar concentration of urea in seawater is presented. The colorimetry was based on the diacetyl monoxime method and the automated system was constructed by a gas-segmented continuous flow analyzer equipped with a 100 cm path length of liquid waveguide capillary cell. The most suitable surfactant for the system was hexadecyl-trimethyl-ammonium-bromide as compared to Brij-35, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and Triton X-100. Blank selection using a 3% NaCl solution, filtered subtropical surface seawater, and filtered deep seawaters with and without urease treatment showed that the filtered deep seawater with urease treatment had the lowest absorbance and was appropriate. The sample volume needed for the analysis was 1.8 mL, and the analysis rate was 10 samples h−1. Calibration curves showed good linearity for 0–1000 nM urea-N concentration range (r2 = 0.999). The detection limit was 5 nM urea-N. The coefficient of variation for the analysis of seawater samples collected in the subtropical North Pacific was <5% at 30 and 29 nM urea-N. The proposed analytical system was applicable to vertical observation in the subtropical North Pacific.